The Stage

Tories call for ACE funding cuts to be reconsidered

Published Thursday 10 January 2008 at 14:20 by Alistair Smith

The Conservative Party has joined critics calling for Arts Council England to bring a halt to its proposals to cut funding to nearly 200 cultural organisations as part of its latest spending review.

Following Equity’s demands for ACE to reconsider its decision and give more time to threatened groups to respond to funding proposals, the Tories have claimed that the latest set of funding decisions should be reconsidered following the publication of Brian McMaster’s review into excellence in the arts.

Tory culture minister Ed Vaizey said: “It is astonishing that the arts council was allowed to proceed with cuts before the publication of the McMaster Report. There needs to be a proper debate and organisations under threat must have adequate time to defend themselves. It is completely unacceptable to carry out the biggest cull of arts organisations in history in just six weeks. With the current chief executive leaving in a month, the head of the London arts council already gone, and the new chief executive on holiday in Mexico, arts organisations are entitled to ask who is making these decisions.

“Further, many organisations we are talking to believe the arts council has got its facts and figures wrong in their specific cases. This is no way to decide the future of many arts organisations which, until a few months ago, appeared to be highly regarded by the arts council.”